Arrangement for Holding a Sidewall Element on a Bodyshell Part of a Vehicle, Bracket and Vehicle

ABSTRACT

An arrangement for holding a sidewall element on a bodyshell part of a bodyshell for a vehicle, in which arrangement the sidewall element is held on the bodyshell part by way of a bracket which is formed separately from the bodyshell part and separately from the sidewall element. The bracket is connected to the bodyshell part and to the sidewall element, wherein the bracket has a first retaining element connected to the bodyshell part and a second retaining element, which is connected to the sidewall element and is formed separately from the first retaining element and is connected to the first retaining element.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a battery housing for a battery of a motorvehicle, which is designed to receive at least one battery cell of thebattery and which comprises at least one valve apparatus for pressureequalization in the event of a pressure difference between an interiorspace of the battery housing and a surrounding area of the batteryhousing and for discharging a hot gas, which is released into theinterior space, of the at least one battery cell into the surroundingarea of the battery housing. The invention moreover relates to a batteryand to a motor vehicle.

In the present case, interest is directed to batteries for motorvehicles, which may be used for example as traction batteries forelectrically drivable motor vehicles. Such a battery conventionally hasa plurality of battery cells, which are arranged in an interior space ofa battery housing of the battery. In the event of a fault, for examplein the event of a short-circuit within the cell, of one of the batterycells, it may perform emergency degassing by discharging a hot gas fromits cell housing into the interior space of the battery housing. Inorder to divert the hot gas out of the interior space, the batteryhousing conventionally has at least one valve apparatus, which isarranged on a housing wall of the battery housing. Such a valveapparatus may have a rupture membrane, which yields, for example tearsor ruptures, in the event of the hot gas arising in the interior space,and as a result a degassing opening in the housing wall opens up for thepurpose of discharging the hot gas into a surrounding area of thebattery. Such rupture membranes can also be permeable to air, with theresult that the valve apparatus is additionally designed for pressureequalization in the event of a pressure difference between the interiorspace and the surrounding area.

In order to be able to reliably discharge the hot gas, such rupturemembranes have high sensitivity. However, as a result, the rupturemembrane can also yield owing to external influences or environmentalinfluences, for example owing to the action of water, and thusundesirably be destroyed. These environmental influences can thenpenetrate the interior space of the battery housing and damage thecomponents located there.

It is an object of the present invention to be able to easily protect abattery of a motor vehicle against environmental influences.

This object is achieved according to a battery housing, a battery and amotor vehicle having the features according to the claimed invention.

A battery housing according to an embodiment of the invention for abattery of a motor vehicle is designed to receive at least one batterycell of the battery and has at least one valve apparatus. The valveapparatus is designed to equalize pressure in the event of a pressuredifference between an interior space of the battery housing and asurrounding area of the battery housing and to discharge a hot gas,which is released into the interior space, of the at least one batterycell into the surrounding area of the battery housing. The at least onevalve apparatus has a valve seat, in the form of a degassing opening ina housing wall of the battery housing, and a valve body, wherein thevalve body covers the degassing opening in a closed position and can bemoved out of the closed position by way of an increase in an internalpressure in the interior space of the battery housing. The valve bodycan be moved into a first open position, in which the valve bodyreversibly opens up the degassing opening in order to provide thepressure equalization, by way of an internal pressure increase resultingfrom the pressure difference, and can be moved into a second openposition, in which the valve body irreversibly opens up the degassingopening in order to discharge the hot gas, by way of an internalpressure increase resulting from the hot gas.

The invention moreover relates to a battery for a motor vehicle havingat least one battery cell and a battery housing according to anembodiment of the invention, which is designed to receive the at leastone battery cell. The rechargeable battery or the accumulator is inparticular in the form of a traction battery for an electricallydrivable motor vehicle. The battery is preferably in the form of ahigh-voltage energy store. The battery has in particular a plurality ofbattery cells arranged in the interior space of the battery housing. Thebattery cells may for example be in the form of prismatic battery cells,round cells or pouch cells. In the event of a fault, for example in theevent of a short-circuit within the cell, of a battery cell, thisbattery cell can discharge a hot gas into the interior space of thebattery housing to reduce the pressure.

The battery housing has housing walls, for example in the form of ahousing bottom part or housing base and a housing upper part or housingcover, which enclose the interior space for receiving the battery cells.The at least one valve apparatus is arranged on at least one of thehousing walls, for example on the housing cover. The valve apparatus hasthe valve seat, which is in the form of the degassing opening. Thedegassing opening is a through-opening in the housing wall. Moreover,the valve apparatus has the valve body, which seals the valve seat andin addition can close or cover the degassing opening. The valve bodyseals the degassing opening and therefore the battery housing inparticular in a gas-tight manner. The valve apparatus is preferably inthe form of a disk valve apparatus and has a valve body in the form of acap-like sealing disk, which is arranged on the outer side of thehousing wall overlapping the degassing opening. Moreover, the valve bodycan be pressed out of the valve seat as a result of the increase in theinternal pressure and therefore open up the degassing opening, in orderto reduce the internal pressure in the battery housing. In this respect,the increase in the internal pressure can be caused for example by apressure difference, resulting from the surrounding area or from theweather, between the interior space of the battery housing and thesurrounding area. Such a pressure difference resulting from thesurrounding area occurs for example when the motor vehicle is travelinguphill. The increase in the internal pressure can also be caused by hotgas of at least one battery cell in the interior space of the batteryhousing.

In this respect, the valve apparatus can be opened reversibly, that isto say only temporarily, or irreversibly, that is to say permanently,depending on whether the internal pressure increase in the interiorspace of the battery housing results from a pressure difference or hotgas. In particular, the valve body can be moved into the first openposition if the internal pressure exceeds a first threshold value andfalls below a second threshold value, and can be moved back into theclosed position if the internal pressure falls below the first thresholdvalue again. Thus, if the internal pressure is between the first and thesecond threshold value, there is an internal pressure increase resultingfrom a pressure difference. This internal pressure increase resultingfrom a pressure difference moves the valve body out of the closedposition into the first open position, in which the valve body opens upthe degassing opening reversibly, that is to say only temporarily. Inthis way, an air stream can be admitted between the internal space andthe surrounding area to equalize the pressure. As soon as the internalpressure increase resulting from a pressure difference has been reduced,the valve body returns to the closed position again and seals the valveseat again. In the first open position, the valve body does not have toassume a discrete position with respect to the degassing opening, butrather can assume different positions depending on the internal pressureexceeding the first threshold value. For example, the valve body may beremoved further away from the degassing opening the greater the internalpressure that remains below the second threshold value.

In particular, the valve body can be moved into the second open positionand fixed there for the purpose of providing the irreversible opening-upof the degassing opening if the internal pressure exceeds the secondthreshold value. Thus, if the internal pressure exceeds the secondthreshold value, there is an internal pressure increase resulting from ahot gas. The increase in the internal pressure resulting from a hot gasbeyond the second threshold value thus moves the valve body out of theclosed position or the first open position into the second openposition, in which the valve body irreversibly, that is to saypermanently, opens up the degassing opening. In this way, it is possiblefor the hot gas to escape via the degassing opening into the surroundingarea for emergency degassing. By virtue of the fact that the valveapparatus remains permanently open as a result of fixing the valve bodyin the second open position, it is possible to prevent the valveapparatus from undesirably closing again before the hot gas hascompletely escaped from the internal space. The second open position canthus not be released by way of reducing the internal pressure, incontrast with the first open position.

Such a valve apparatus having a valve body is especially robust againstenvironmental influences and can additionally provide both pressureequalization and emergency degassing.

It has proven to be advantageous if the valve apparatus has a resettingdevice, which is designed to permit the valve body to be raised withrespect to the housing wall, as a result of the internal pressureincrease resulting from a pressure difference, from the closed positioninto the first open position, with the result that the valve body opensup the degassing opening, and, after the internal pressure increaseresulting from a pressure difference has been reduced, to provide alowering of the valve body from the first open position back into theclosed position with respect to the housing wall, with the result thatthe valve body seals the degassing opening again. The resetting devicecomprises in particular a spring, by way of which the valve body isfastened to the housing wall. For example, the spring may be arranged inthe interior space of the battery housing and hold the valve body, forexample the sealing disk arranged on the outer side of the housing wall,on the housing wall. For example, the resetting device may press thevalve body into the valve seat and therefore seal the degassing opening,as soon as the internal pressure falls below the first threshold value,which depends on a resetting force of the resetting device. As soon asthe internal pressure exceeds the first threshold value and thereforethe resetting force of the resetting device, the internal pressure actscounter to the resetting force of the resetting device and slides thevalve body out of the valve seat into the first open position. As soonas the internal pressure drops again and falls below the first thresholdvalue, the valve body is pressed back into the valve seat as a result ofthe resetting force of the resetting device.

It may be provided that the valve apparatus comprises a fixing devicedesigned to fix the valve body, which has been raised into the secondopen position by way of the internal pressure increase resulting from ahot gas, in the second open position in order to discharge the hot gas.In particular, the valve device comprises the resetting device and thefixing device. So long as the internal pressure is below the secondthreshold value, the resetting device ensures that the valve body canreturn to the closed position again as soon as the internal pressurefalls below the first threshold value again. However, as soon as theinternal pressure exceeds the second threshold value, the fixing devicefixes the valve body in the second open position, with the result thatthe resetting device can also no longer return the valve body to theclosed position, even if the internal pressure falls below the firstthreshold value again.

In one refinement of the invention, the fixing device is asnap-connection device and the valve body and the housing wall havemutually corresponding connecting elements, which snap into one anotheras soon as the valve body has moved into the second open position. Forexample, at least one first connecting element is in the form of anelastic snap hook element and at least one second connecting element isin the form of a rigid locking element with an undercut. The connectingelements snap into one another or latch together as soon as the internalpressure increase resulting from a hot gas has raised the valve body farenough from the housing wall. For example, at least one snap hookelement may be arranged on the housing wall, while the valve body has atleast one undercut in which a snap hook head of the snap hook elementcan be arranged.

The invention also relates to a motor vehicle which comprises a batteryaccording to an embodiment of the invention. The motor vehicle is inparticular in the form of an electric or hybrid vehicle.

The embodiments presented with regard to the battery housing accordingto the invention and the advantages of these embodiments applycorrespondingly for the embodiments of the battery according to theinvention and for the embodiments of the motor vehicle according to theinvention.

Further features of the invention will become apparent from the claims,the figures and the description of the figures. The features andcombinations of features mentioned in the description above and thefeatures and combinations of features mentioned in the description ofthe figures below and/or shown in the figures alone may be used not onlyin the respectively specified combination but also in other combinationsor individually.

The invention will now be explained in more detail on the basis of anexemplary embodiment and with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a battery housing for a batteryof a motor vehicle with a valve apparatus in a closed position.

FIG. 2 shows the battery housing according to FIG. 1 with the valveapparatus in a first open position.

FIG. 3 shows the battery housing according to FIG. 1 with the valveapparatus in a second open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the figures, elements that are the same or have the same function areprovided with the same reference signs.

FIG. 1 shows a battery housing 1 for a battery of a motor vehicle. Thebattery housing 1 has housing walls 2, which enclose an interior space 3for receiving battery cells, not shown here, of the battery. A valveapparatus 4, which is designed to provide an internal pressure reductionof an internal pressure in the internal space 3 of the battery housing1, is arranged in at least one housing wall 2. In addition, the valveapparatus 4 has a valve seat in the form of a degassing opening 5, whichis arranged in one of the housing walls 2. Moreover, the valve apparatus4 has a valve body 6, which in FIG. 1 is shown in a closed position andseals the degassing opening 5. The valve body 6 is in this instance inthe form of a cap-like sealing disk 7 which is arranged on an outer side8 of the housing wall 2 and in the closed position covers or seals thedegassing opening 5, in particular in a gas-tight manner.

The valve apparatus 4 moreover has a resetting device 9 in the form of aspring 10 and a fixing device 11. The valve body 6 can be moved betweenthe closed position and a first open position, as is shown in FIG. 2 ,by way of the resetting device 9. In the process, the valve body 6 ismoved out of the closed position into the first open position as aresult of an internal pressure increase, which results from a pressuredifference between the interior space 3 and a surrounding area 12 of thebattery housing 1. In this respect, the internal pressure for providingthe first open position is between a first threshold value and a secondthreshold value. To provide the first open position, the valve body 6 israised with respect to the housing wall 2, and therefore moved away fromthe degassing opening 5, as a result of the increasing internal pressurecounter to a resetting force of the resetting device 9. As a result, itopens up the degassing opening 5 temporarily or reversibly, with theresult that it is possible to equalize the pressure between the interiorspace 3 and the surrounding area 12. As soon as the elevated internalpressure has been reduced and the internal pressure falls below thefirst threshold value again, the resetting device 9 draws the valve body6 back to the housing wall 2 and presses it onto the degassing opening 5again. The valve body 6 is then in the closed position again.

If the internal pressure increase is an internal pressure increaseresulting from a hot gas, which was caused by hot gas of at least onebattery cell in the interior space 3 and as a result of which theinternal pressure exceeds the second threshold value, the valve body 6is moved beyond the first open position into a second open position andfixed there by way of the fixing device 11. The second open position isshown in FIG. 3 . In this instance, the fixing device 11 is a snapconnection device, which comprises two connecting elements 13, 14. Here,one first connecting element 13 is an elastic snap hook 15, which inthis instance is arranged on the housing wall 2. One second connectingelement 14 is a locking element in the form of an undercut 16, which isarranged on the valve body 6, in this instance on a collar-like regionof the cap-like sealing disk 7. So long as the internal pressure isbetween the first and the second threshold value, a snap hook head 17 ofthe snap hook 15 glides along the valve body 6, without becomingarranged in the undercut 16 in the process. However, as soon as theinternal pressure exceeds the second threshold value, the valve body 6is raised far enough with respect to the housing wall 2 that the snaphook head 17 becomes arranged in the undercut 16. As a result, theconnecting elements 13, 14 snap or latch into one another and fix thevalve body 6 in the second open position. In this second open position,the hot gas can escape from the interior space 3 into the surroundingarea 12.

1.-10. (canceled)
 11. An arrangement for holding a sidewall element on a bodyshell part of a bodyshell for a vehicle, comprising: a bracket by which the sidewall element is held on the bodyshell part, wherein the bracket is formed separately from the bodyshell part and separately from the sidewall element, and is connected to the bodyshell part and to the sidewall element, the bracket comprises a first holding element, which is connected to the bodyshell part, and a second holding element, which is formed separately from the first holding element, is connected to the first holding element, and is connected to the sidewall element.
 12. The arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the second holding element is connected to the first holding element via a connecting device, by which connecting device the second holding element is fixable to the first holding element in a plurality of positions which differ from one another along a vertical direction of the vehicle and/or a longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
 13. The arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the second holding element and the sidewall element each have at least two connecting regions, which are spaced apart from one another and via which the second holding element and the sidewall element are connected to one another.
 14. The arrangement according to claim 13, wherein a first of the at least two connecting regions of the second holding element is at least partially overlapped from above in a vertical direction of the vehicle by a first of the at least two connecting regions of the sidewall element, and the second connecting region of the second holding element is at least partially overlapped from a front or a rear in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle by the second connecting region of the sidewall element.
 15. The arrangement according to claim 13, wherein the second holding element is connected via one of its connecting regions to a bumper covering, which is formed separately from the bracket, separately from the bodyshell part and separately from the sidewall element.
 16. The arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the sidewall element is held on the first holding element exclusively by way of the second holding element.
 17. The arrangement according to claim 11, wherein a buffer element for buffering a movement of a front hood of the vehicle is held on the bracket.
 18. The arrangement according to claim 17, wherein the buffer element is held on the first holding element.
 19. The arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the first holding element and/or the second holding element are of one-piece design.
 20. A bracket for retaining a sidewall element on a bodyshell part of a bodyshell for a vehicle, comprising: at least one first connecting element, by which the bracket is connectable to the bodyshell part; and at least one second connecting element, which is spaced apart from the first connecting element and by which the bracket is connectable to the sidewall element, thereby enabling the sidewall element to be held on the bodyshell part by way of the bracket, wherein the bracket has a first holding element, which has the at least one first connecting element and is connectable to the bodyshell part by the at least one first connecting element, and a second holding element, which is formed separately from the first holding element, has the at least one second connecting element, is connectable to the sidewall element by the at least one second connecting element and is connected to the first holding element.
 21. A vehicle, comprising: a bodyshell having a bodyshell part; a sidewall element; and a bracket according to claim
 20. 